US sports giant wins broadcast rights to Australia’s Caribbean cricket tour

Australia’s first Test tour of the Caribbean for a decade is set to be broadcast by ESPN and therefore available on Foxtel, after the US sports giant outbid Seven for rights to the three Tests and five Twenty20 matches.

It’s the first time that an Australian cricket tour overseas will be seen on ESPN in this country, meaning it is also expected to be available on Disney Plus, as well as Foxtel, Kayo and Fetch.

West Indies celebrate their win over Australia at the Gabba in 2024.Credit: Getty Images

Two industry sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal has not yet been formally signed off, told this masthead that ESPN was the preferred bidder for West Indies Cricket after surmounting Seven’s offer, which followed its purchase of the recent Sri Lanka series in January and February.

ESPN’s Caribbean arm holds the domestic rights to the tour. Australia are scheduled to play three Tests in Barbados, Grenada and Jamaica in June and July. The last of these is slated to be a pink-ball match under lights at Sabina Park, meaning a more friendly time slot for Australian viewers. ESPN declined to comment. West Indies Cricket was contacted for comment.

Foxtel has customarily picked up the rights to Caribbean tours, but the subscription service is currently working through its recent sale to DAZN.

Foxtel recently raised fees for its Kayo streaming service, after making a round of job cuts in April.

Having spent big on the rights to cricket in Australia since 2018, Foxtel has also grown gradually less inclined to broadcast overseas tours outside select series in England, India and a couple of other countries.

Last year, Foxtel gave up rights to cricket World Cups, which it had previously shared with Nine (owner of this masthead), with the global events instead bought by Amazon Prime, including this month’s world Test championship final at Lord’s.

Seven has unsuccessfully lobbied the federal government for a tweak to anti-siphoning regulations so that free-to-air networks had the opportunity to bid for this and future editions of the Test championship final.

Nine still holds the rights for Ashes tours of England, which are on the anti-siphoning list. But the Test final itself is not on the list, nor are any overseas Test matches against South Africa. Foxtel holds the rights to Australia’s next scheduled South African tour in 2026.

There is added interest in Australia’s trip to the West Indies after the Caribbean side’s surprise defeat of Pat Cummins’ team at the Gabba in 2024, although the hero of that win, fast bowler Shamar Joseph, has struggled to emulate his feat since.

ESPN’s purchase also marks the start of a new phase for the American network, which through Disney Plus in particular now has a greater incentive to purchase sports content for the Australian market to drive up subscribers.

In 2023, ESPN stepped up its Australian cricket coverage by launching the panel show Around The Wicket, presented by Neroli Meadows and featuring the likes of former captains Michael Clarke and Aaron Finch, plus Mike Hussey, Callum Ferguson and Simon Katich.

At the same time, ESPN’s availability on Foxtel, Kayo and elsewhere will be a relief to Cricket Australia as it affords a greater opportunity for viewership than any other option outside free-to-air.

West Indies tours were once considered the toughest possible assignment for Australia, and attracted commensurate broadcast interest: the 1991 tour was televised on Nine, before the famous 1995 series was simulcast by Foxtel’s predecessor Galaxy and Ten.

Both tours were dubbed an unofficial “world championship” between cricket’s two pre-eminent Test teams of the day. Foxtel has subsequently broadcast Caribbean Test tours in 1999, 2003, 2008, 2012 and 2015.

Fraser-McGurk, Stoinis axed as Big Bash rising star earns T20 call-up

Tom Decent

Dynamic opening batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk and experienced all-rounder Marcus Stoinis have been dropped from Australia’s T20 squad as Tasmanian Mitch Owen earned a maiden national call-up in the build-up to next year’s World Cup.

Australian selectors have named a new-look squad for five T20 internationals in Jamaica and St Kitts to be played in July after a three-Test series in the Caribbean.

Mitch Marsh returns to captain the side after missing Australia’s last T20 campaign against Pakistan in November.

While Test stars Pat Cummins, Travis Head and Mitchell Starc will return home after Tests in Barbados, Grenada and Jamaica, selectors have confirmed Josh Hazlewood, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis and Matt Kuhnemann will remain in the Caribbean for five white-ball matches.

The most notable omissions are Fraser-McGurk and Stoinis, both of whom featured in Australia’s most recent T20. Queensland quick Xavier Bartlett also misses out despite having picked up at least one wicket in each of his seven T20 internationals last year.

Jake Fraser-McGurk has been left out of Australia’s T20 squad ahead of matches against the West Indies. Credit: Getty Images

Fraser-McGurk, who was also overlooked for Australia’s Champions Trophy one-day squad after being touted as David Warner’s replacement at the top of the order, averages 16.14 from seven T20 internationals at a strike rate of 143.03. The 23-year-old endured a lean IPL campaign, managing just 55 runs at 9.16.

Considered one of the brightest young talents in the country, Fraser-McGurk burst onto the scene with a 29-ball century for South Australia in the one-day cup in 2023, then clubbed 41 off 18 deliveries against the West Indies in just his second ODI.

Stoinis, meanwhile, has been a mainstay in Australia’s T20 set-up, playing 17 of the 21 matches in the format last year. The 35-year-old, who announced his ODI retirement in February, averaged 36.66 with the bat and snared 21 wickets at 17 in T20 internationals across 2024.

He compiled 160 runs at 26.66 in this year’s IPL but has not done enough to retain his place in the Australian set-up.

Australia men’s squad for T20I Series against the West Indies

• Mitchell Marsh (Perth Scorchers/Fremantle Cricket Club) (c)
• Sean Abbott (Sydney Sixers/Parramatta District Cricket Club) 
• Cooper Connolly (Perth Scorchers/Scarborough Cricket Club)
• Tim David (Hobart Hurricanes/Claremont-Nedlands Cricket Club)   
• Ben Dwarshuis (Sydney Sixers/Sutherland Cricket Club)
• Nathan Ellis (Hobart Hurricanes/Lindisfarne Cricket Club)   
• Cameron Green (Western Australia/ Subiaco-Floreat Cricket Club)
• Aaron Hardie (Perth Scorchers/Willetton Cricket Club)
• Josh Hazlewood (Sydney Sixers/ St George Cricket Club)
• Josh Inglis (Perth Scorchers/Joondalup Cricket Club)
• Spencer Johnson (Brisbane Heat/West Torrens Cricket Club) 
• Matt Kuhnemann (Brisbane Heat/Clarence Cricket Club)
• Glenn Maxwell (Melbourne Stars/Fitzroy Doncaster Cricket Club) 
• Mitch Owen (Hobart Hurricanes/New Town Cricket Club)
• Matthew Short (Adelaide Strikers/Northcote Cricket Club)
• Adam Zampa (Melbourne Renegades/Sutherland Cricket Club)

Test series (separate squad)

• June 25-29, First Test: Bridgetown, Barbados 
• July 3-7, Second Test: St George’s, Grenada 
• July 12-16, Third Test: Kingston, Jamaica

T20 international series 

• July 20: First T20: Kingston, Jamaica 
• July 22: Second T20: Kingston, Jamaica 
• July 25: Third T20: Basseterre, St Kitts 
• July 26: Fourth T20: Basseterre, St Kitts 
• July 28: Fifth T20: Basseterre, St Kitts 

Stoinis, whose international future is unclear, was named player of the match in his last T20. He will take part in the Hundred in the UK later this year.

Cooper Connolly and Green return to the T20 setup after overcoming injury, while uncapped batsman Owen has been rewarded for his excellent Big Bash form for the Hobart Hurricanes.

Owen was the leading run-scorer in last summer’s Big Bash, making 452 runs at 45.2, which included a breathtaking 108 off 42 balls in the final.

Australia have won 12 of their past 14 T20 internationals as they build towards next year’s World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, starting in February.

The first T20 between Australia and West Indies takes place on July 20 in Kingston.

In a statement, chair of selectors George Bailey said: “We have a busy T20 schedule coming up [in the West Indies] … followed by three [T20s] against South Africa and New Zealand and five matches against India at home as we continue to refine and build a squad we think will be the right fit for the World Cup on the subcontinent.

“There are a number of players outside the squad who can still force their way into the mix for those upcoming Indian series and through the Big Bash. It’s an exciting time in our T20 space.”

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